Air manifold system for inflatable bulkheads

ABSTRACT

An improved system for selective inflation and deflation of the inflatable envelope means, of an air-pressure type bulkhead system using an inflatable envelope positioned between the spaced panels, is provided by manifolding multiple, normally closed inlet valves at selected locations with the envelope means and providing a single deflation valve that is selectively operable from multiple selected locations. In one form of construction, the single deflation valve is combined with an inlet valve.

United States Patent 1191 Enochian Aug. 21, 1973 AIR MANIFOLD SYSTEM FOR INFLATABLE BULKHEADS [75] Inventor: Samuel H. Enochian, Thornton, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Unarco Industries, Inc., Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Sept. 23, 1971 [211 App]. No.: 183,017

[52] US. Cl. 114/75, 114/116, 105/364 BA [51] Int. Cl. B63b 25/24 [58] Field of Search 114/75, 116, 72,

114/78; 214/105 D; 105/369 BA; 137/315; 9/2 A; 280/179, 180; 248/119 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,856,867 10/1958 Dasey 114/75 UX 3,131,648 5/1964 Seger 105/369 BA 3,677,369 7/1972 Schramm 251/315 x Primary ExaminerMilton Buchler Assistant Examiner-E. R. Kazenske Attorney-Lettvin and Gerstman [5 7] ABSTRACT An improved system for selective inflation and deflation of the inflatable envelope means, of an air-pressure type bulkhead system using an inflatable envelope positioned between the spaced panels, is provided by manifolding multiple, normally closed inlet valves at selected locations with the envelope means and providing a single deflation valve that is selectively operable from multiple selected locations. In one form of construction, the single deflation valve is combined with an inlet valve.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 21, 1973 3,753,414

FIG.I

FIG. 3

ZQLQ 1 AIR MANIFOLD SYSTEM FOR INFLATABLE BULKHEADS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an air or gas pressured bulkhead system which employs inflatable and expandable envelopes for cushioning the movement of lading within a lading carrying vehicle and in particular is directed to the valves and valve operating means used for selective filling and venting of the envelopes.

Systems employing inflatable envelopes for cushioning the movement of lading within a vehicle during shipment are well-known in the art. It is known to provide a system that includes therein a wall-type member to which a lading-engaging panel is mounted for movement toward and away from such wall member, and at least one inflatable envelope means is disposed between the wall-type member and the panel for inflation after the lading is placed in a position where it may be engaged by the panel. During the shipment the lading may shift or move and the forces created by this movement are transmitted from the panel to the inflatable envelope means which act to cushion the effect of the movement. In such previous systems it has been the common practice to provide three locations at which the envelope means are to be both inflated and deflated, namely adjacent each edge of the wall-type member and at a point about mid-width between the said two edge locations and adjacent the movable panel. Each of such valve means is independently operable.

One problem with such previous systems is that the presence of three valves adapted for effecting deflation increases the likelihood of inadvertent deflation of the envelope means and loss of the benefits of the cushioning means of the inflatable bulkhead system. Another problem is to avoid worker error that may exist where an operator neglects to close one of the deflation valves before loading the vehicle with lading prior to shipment.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improved system for both selective inflation and deflation of the inflatable envelope means, of an air-pressure type bulkhead system, which avoids the defects of previous systems and provides means for selective inflation of the envelope means from multiple, selected locations and provides a single deflation valve that is selectively operable from multiple selected positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide an inflation and deflation system, for inflatable envelope means of an air-pressure type bulkhead system, that is characterized by simplicity and inexpensiveness of construction and by effectiveness and reliability of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By virtue of this invention there is provided an inflation and deflation system which includes a manifold and valve operating system that permits the inflation of the envelopes from any one of a plurality of selected positions and permits the closing of a deflation valve from any of the selected positions. This system employs a pair of normally closed inlet valves one of which is positioned at each side edge of the wall member and an inlet-outlet valve positioned at the center of the wall member. The manifold interconnects all of the valves and the inflatable envelopes to permit inflation and deflation thereof. The center-positioned inlet-outlet valve is controllable from the center position as well as remotely from positions adjacent the side edge inlet valves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing the valve arrangement, manifold and valve operating mechanism in a bulkhead which is partially broken away to show the positioning of the bulkhead support wall, envelopes, and lading-engaging panels;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a fragment of the bulkhead with the envelope deflated and showing a side edge inlet valve and the operating mechanism for the centrally positioned inlet-outlet valve;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the side edge positioned inlet valve taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the centrally positioned inlet-outlet valve taken substantially in a plane parallel to the bulkhead with the valve in the closed position; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 except that the valve is in the open position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a movable cushioning bulkhead system 10, generally, is shown. The system includes a support-wall member 12 which supports a lading-engaging panel 14 that is arranged to move toward and away from the support wall 12. A pair of inflatable envelopes 16 and 18 are hung from the support wall 12 and disposed between it and the ladingengaging panel 14. From FIG. 2 it is understood that as the envelope 18 is inflated the panel 14 is pushed away from the support wall 12 and toward lading which is stacked in the vehicle.

The envelopes 16 and 18 may be filled from the left or right hand side of the bulkhead 10 by introducing compressed air into either inlet valve 20 or 22. These valves may be characterized as normally closed inlet valves and will be described further hereinafter. The compressed air which passes through one of the valves enters a manifold system which interconnects both valves 20 and 22 by means of the laterally extending conduit 24 which is also referred to as a multiple branched conduit segment. The conduit 24 is in communication with the envelope 18 by means of the conduit or intake-exhaust segment 26 and with the envelope 16 by means of the conduit or intake-exhaust segment 28. Thus by injecting compressed air into either valve 20 or 22 both the envelopes l6 and 18 may be inflated.

An inlet-outlet valve 30 is centrally positioned in the support wall and is in communication with the conduit 23 by means of another intake-exhaust segment or the short conduit 32. In addition to inflating the envelopes from either inlet valve 20 or 22 the envelopes can also be inflated from the center valve 30. The center valve 30 is manually controlled so that when the envelopes 16 and 18 are to be inflated from the center position, the center fill valve is manually opened and air injected into the system. After the lading-engaging panel 14 properly engages the lading the center valve 30 is manually closed. In order to deflate or vent the envelopes l6 and 18 the center valve is manually opened.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the inlet valve 20 is shown in cross-section and is in principle a normally closed check valve. The valve body 33 includes two threadably connected parts, i.e., the conduit end 34 and the inlet end 35. The conduit end 34 is internally threaded and sealingly engages an end of the conduit 24. The inlet end 35 is provided with an air entrance port 36 which is closed by means of a reciprocable plunger 38. The plunger 38 is urged, by means of a compression spring 40, into sealing engagement with a valve seat 42 provided on an internal shoulder in the inlet end 35 which seat is in communication with the inlet port 36. The plunger 38 is guided in its axial movement by means of a guide and aperture collar 44 which is integral with the conduit engaging section 34 of the valve body 33. As seen, the spring 40 is positioned between collar 44 and the plunger 38. Air introduced into the valve 20 unseats the plunger 38 and moves it downstream with respect to the flow of air, as this occurs the air flows around the plunger head into the interior of the valve body, through the apertures 46 provided in the collar 44 and into the conduit 24. When the center positioned valve 30 as described hereinafter is closed, the air flow must be into envelopes 16 and 18. It will be appreciated that since the other inlet valve 22 is substantially identical to the valve 20 and in communication with the conduit 24, the flow of air into the conduit 24 tends to maintain the valve 22 in the closed position. After the appropriate air. pressure is achieved the air flow is turned off and the spring 40 then seats the plunger 38 which prevents air from flowing out of the envelopes.

FIGS. 4 and illustrate the details of the centrally located inlet-outlet valve, which is a type well known in the art but not previously used in the combination as disclosed herein. The valve includes two housing sections 48 and 50 that when secured together, such as by multiple bolts 48', provide a housing for assembly therein of a ball-like valve element interposed between the ends of a flow bore 52 through the valve. In the installation herein, one end of flow bore communicates with short conduit to which valve section 48 secures, while the other end of bore 52 communicates with conduit section 51 that is normally open to permit filling or deflation therethrough. The inlet end of conduit 51.

may have the same intake shape as inlet 35 of inlet valve 20, but of course no normally closed valve will be present in conduit section 51.

The ball-like valve element 54 has a bore 56 therethrough, so that when element 54 is in the position of FIG. 4 with bore 56 at right angles to flow bore 52 the valve 30 is closed, but when in the position of FIG. 5 flow may pass through conduits 32 and 51 either for filling or for exhausting the envelopes 16 and 18. The ball-like element 54 is arranged to pivot about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of flow bore 52. Opposed portions of ball 54 are slotted at 57 to provide for driving cooperation thereof with key-like elements 58 at the ends of studs 58 that are journaled in diametrically'opposed sleeves 59 provided on the valve housing section 50.

A pair of spaced gasket seats. or packings, 55 are arranged in the valve housing to sealingly cooperate with cylindrical portions of ball-like element 54 when it is pivoted about its pivot axis. The studs 58 each carry 0- ring seals 58a that sealingly cooperate with the inner walls of sleeves 59.

A handle 60 is provided adjacent valve 30 for cooperation with one of the studs 58 to permit selective manual movement of valve element 54 between open valve position of FIG. 5 and closed valve position of FIG. 4.

To adapt the valve 30 in the system disclosed herein, a pair of laterally extending shafts 62 and 64 are journaled in portions of the wall-type support member 12 as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and both shafts are connected to the valve 30 through connection to studs 58 to provide means for selective pivoting of the ball element 54. Each of the cross shafts 62 and 64 terminates distally of valve 30 at a position adjacent a side edge of the supporting wall 12. Appropriate handles 66 and 68 are provided at the ends of the shafls 64 and 62, respectively, which handles are substantially aligned with the handle 60. The handles 60, 66 and 68 provide three spaced stations at which an operator may move the ball-like element 54 to an open valve position to permit of exhausting the gas from envelopes 16 and 18. In a filling operation if-the operator is at an edge of the bulkhead the handle is moved to a closed valve position to prevent inadvertent exhausting and the pressurized gas source is applied toone of the inlet valves 20 or 22.

If the operator is adjacent valve 30, the handle 60 is first moved to an open valve position and pressurized air or gas is introduced through conduit 51 after which the handle 60 is moved to a closed valve position.

In a preferred arrangement the handles 60, 66 and 68 are each arranged such that when the handles are in the vertical position the center valve 30 is closed while when the handles are in the horizontal position the center valve 30 is open. With such an arrangment, even if the operator is standing outside'the car and if the center fill valve may have inadvertently been left in the open position, such condition is readily detected by observing the position of the handles 66 or 68, and may be easily remedied by rotating the handles 66 or 68 to the closed position. When the vehicle is fully loaded, the envelopes 16 and 18 may be deflated by rotating one of the handles 66 or 68 intoa horizontal position corresponding to the open position of the center valve 30.

The center valve 30 may also desirably provide means to prevent overturning of the handles beyond a selected position. Thus, a stop in the form of a projection 70 is provided on valve body section 48 across the path of swing of handle 60, so that when handle 60 strikes projection 70 it limits further movement of the ball-like valve element 54.

It will be appreciated that numerous changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment shown herein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an inflating and deflating system for a bulkhead cushioning system wherein a wall-type member and a lading-engaging panel have interposed therebetween inflatable envelope means and pressurizing means are provided for selectively inflating and deflating said envelope means, the improvement comprising, in combination: manifold means for inflating and deflating each envelope of the envelope means including an intakeexhaust conduit segment and a multiple-branched conduit segment, the intake-exhaust conduit segment being located between the multiple-branched segment and the envelope, and the multiple-branched conduit segment extending across substantially the entire width of the wall-type member and terminating in lateral ends adjacent the lateral edges of the wall-type member, a normally-closed end inlet valve at each lateral end of the branched conduit segment, and at least one additional inlet valve means positioned between the end inlet valves, and connected to said branched conduit segment, a single deflation valve means connected to the manifold menas, and manual operating means adjacent each of said inlet valve means for selectively closing the single deflation valve means from selected positions adjacent the wall-type member and panel member.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein the additional inlet valve means and single deflation means are provided as a single valve member.

3. A system as in claim 2 wherein said inlet-deflation valve is mounted to and centrally positioned on said wall-type member and each of said inlet valves is mounted to a side edge of said member.

4. A system as in claim 3 wherein said inlet deflation valve is a ball-type gate valve and said valve operating means comprises a pair of rotatable shafts mounted to said wall-type member, each shaft extending from said valve to one of said side edges.

5. A system as in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of envelopes and the manifold means includes a separate intake-exhaust conduit section to each envelope, and each of the intake-exhaust conduit sections being interconnected by a conduit section free from valve means interposed between the connections of said section to said intake-exhaust conduit sections.

* l i i i 

1. In an inflating and deflating system for a bulkhead cushioning system wherein a wall-type member and a ladingengaging panel have interposed therebetween inflatable envelope means and pressurizing means are provided for selectively inflating and deflating said envelope means, the improvement comprising, in combination: manifold means for inflating and deflating each envelope of the envelope means including an intake-exhaust conduit segment and a multiple-branched conduit segment, the intake-exhaust conduit segment being located between the multiple-branched segment and the envelope, and the multiplebranched conduit segment extending across substantially the entire width of the wall-type member and terminating in lateral ends adjacent the lateral edges of the wall-type member, a normally-closed end inlet valve at each lateral end of the branched conduit segment, and at least one additional inlet valve means positioned between the end inlet valves, and connected to said branched conduit segment, a single deflation valve means connected to the manifold menas, and manual operating means adjacent each of said inlet valve means for selectively closing the single deflation valve means from selected positions adjacent the wall-type member and panel member.
 2. A system as in claim 1 wherein the additional inlet valve means and single deflation means are provided as a single valve member.
 3. A system as in claim 2 wherein said inlet-deflation valve is mounted to and centrally positioned on said wall-type member and each of said inlet valves is mounted to a side edge of said member.
 4. A system as in claim 3 wherein said inlet deflation valve is a ball-type gate valve and said valve operating means comprises a pair of rotatable shafts mounted to said wall-type member, each shaft extending from said valve to one of said side edges.
 5. A system as in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of envelopes and the manifold means includes a separate intake-exhaust conduit section to each envelope, and each of the intake-exhaust conduit sections being interconnected by a conduit section free from valve means interposed between the connections of said section to said intake-exhaust cOnduit sections. 